[LimpyLegs]

Originally Posted by USMC1984

Why do people say 5AM in the morning? Would this be opposed to 5AM in the evening?

It's kind of like calling a water heater, a "hot water heater"....

Why do you need to heat hot water?

[oeccscclhjhn]

Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn

Greg from the Las Vegas Astronomical Society said to:

Keep watching that area of the morning sky and by the end of December you'll see Jupiter rising in the same location.

I wonder if Jupiter will rise around the same time, 5am in the morning?




I was thinking (does anyone else smell smoke?), these planets that we see in the night / morning sky are reflecting sun, like the moon. Do these planets also go through phases, like the moon? Is there a new Venus, when it's almost not visible? I'll ask Greg that question here in a bit.

[oeccscclhjhn]

Originally Posted by oeccscclhjhn

I was thinking (does anyone else smell smoke?), these planets that we see in the night / morning sky are reflecting sun, like the moon. Do these planets also go through phases, like the moon? Is there a new Venus, when it's almost not visible? I'll ask Greg that question here in a bit.

Greg's answer:

Yes, Mercury and Venus do very much. And Mars does just a bit at times because it is relatively close to us. The outer planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune do not. Here's a good explanation.

Planetary phase

[AA702]

I am up early and yes it is Venus you are seeing. There are other bright objects but they are not quite as bright as Venus. The other bright object you might see are other planets such as Jupiter or Mars (reddish tint to it). The brightest star that we can see here is Sirius and its close to Orion if you know where to look. One morning I actually saw the international space station zoom by, pretty cool to watch on a clear morning or night.

[oeccscclhjhn]

Originally Posted by AA702

I am up early and yes it is Venus you are seeing. There are other bright objects but they are not quite as bright as Venus. The other bright object you might see are other planets such as Jupiter or Mars (reddish tint to it). The brightest star that we can see here is Sirius and its close to Orion if you know where to look. One morning I actually saw the international space station zoom by, pretty cool to watch on a clear morning or night.

I can find Sirius as it's lined up right along Orion's belt. I'm looking forward to checking out if I an see Jupiter next month. Only naked eye though - no scope.

[Camaro5]

With the cooler temperatures at night it's been really clear. Very good for night sky photography and I've been able to get some nice shots right in my back yard. The Big Dipper is low in the eastern sky (and looks huge) and Mars has been bright.

I have an app on my phone and all you do is point the phone to the sky and it tells you everything, i.e. planets, stars, constellations, etc. that you are looking at. It said that Saturn was low and to the south but I haven't been able to see it from where I'm at in far SW Henderson.

[oeccscclhjhn]

You can see Jupiter and Mercury rising to the east southeast ( 5:50am ) well below Venus.

[JonathanLB]

Haha my sister will do that “5 am in the morning” thing and it drives me crazy. The terminology behind some time things doesn’t make any sense, though. Midnight is incorrect completely, it’s logically inaccurate by its very definition prima facie. 12:00 am cannot be midnight because am means in the morning, so either it’s the middle of the night or it’s the morning but it can’t be both. It’s also not midnight or the next day. I don’t even know anyone who goes to bed before midnight, so how can it be the middle of the night when it’s not even close?! The middle of the night should be 4 am or something and the next day really shouldn’t start until 5 or 6 am at the earliest. Otherwise it just creates confusion when at 1 am you talk about what you’re doing tomorrow but really it’s today, or what you did today when really you technically mean yesterday. Since I don’t even sleep until 4-5 am I just consider tomorrow after I go to bed and wake up no matter when that is because the clock isn’t helpful with the way life actually works. Whatever genius termed 12:00 am both the first minute of morning and “the middle of the night” should be dug up and shot then reburried in a volcano.

[oeccscclhjhn]

i like the below link because you can hit the date and change it, or the hour.

las vegas night sky map

beginning in about a week, we'll be able to spot Saturn. right now you can watch Venus and Jupiter rise every morning if you look southeast. below graphic is the projected Feb 1, 2019 5am sky, and you can see Venus (top right) lined up with Jupiter, the moon, and Saturn.

[oeccscclhjhn]

Saturn has overtaken Venus, and Jupiter is off to the top right, farther up and south.